Aesop's Fables: Townsend (1867)

A VERY LARGE OAK was uprooted by the wind and thrown across a stream.
It fell among some Reeds, which it thus addressed: 'I wonder how you,
who are so light and weak, are not entirely crushed by these strong winds.'
They replied, 'You fight and contend with the wind, and consequently you
are destroyed; while we on the contrary bend before the least breath of
air, and therefore remain unbroken, and escape.' Stoop to conquer.

George Fyler Townsend's translation of the fables, first published in 1867, is
in the public domain and can be found at many websites, including Project
Gutenberg.
Illustrations come from: Aesop's Fables, by George Fyler Townsend, with
illustrations by Harrison Weir, 1867, at Google
Books.